KAMPALA, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Uganda's constitutional court on
Friday overturned an anti-homosexuality law that punished gay
sex with long prison sentences and was condemned by Western and
other donors, some of whom withheld aid in protest.

The new ruling, which can be appealed, voids a statute
signed into law by the president in February and which had broad
support in the religiously conservative east African nation.

Under the Anti-Homosexuality Act, those convicted of
"aggravated homosexuality" - defined as someone with HIV having
gay sex or gay sex with anyone vulnerable, such as a disabled
person - would be put in prison for life.

Homosexuality is a taboo issue in much of Africa and is
illegal in 37 countries on the continent. But the punishments
laid out in Uganda were among the harshest.
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